generalflirt | ~♥THIRTY-ONE♥~

[...hang on.]

You mean you tried to remember not just that week, but the memories we had that week of... our whole lives there?

[And she remembers, when they'd spoken about it just after the experiment, in the grocery store, how he'd teased her - "But I remember they were soft!" - about things that had never really happened. It's arrogant of her, because a lot had happened in his life, but her sense of apprehension builds.]

I did. Stupid, isn't it?

[Lightly. Self-depreciating]

[His tone fools no one and does nothing to thwart Katara's growing sense of discomfort.]

Why would you try to do something like that?

I just answered that, didn't I?

[Oddly, he looks yo Linda for confirmation.

...The pichu is so not paying attention though]

[She closes her eyes, and her pain shows in the furrow of her forehead, the tightening of her eyes, the slight lightening of her skin.

She breathes out:] Oh, Masaomi.

[And opening her eyes, she leans forward a little with quiet intensity.]

It wasn't real.

[Luceti Valley. Their fruit-induced confessions. None of it was real. How can you want to hold on to something which wasn't really them?]

Edited 2012-02-28 17:55 (UTC)

I know. [Quickly, quietly. He leans on his knees, looking downs at the floor a moment. How does he... escape this?

No. Don't run from it]

It's a lie.

[Moon and stars, how does she deal with this?

Don't run, Katara.

She doesn't want him to feel this way about her, although she's not anywhere near vain enough to call it love, Zuko had said "smitten" and that's pretty close. She doesn't do either of them any favors if she pretends not to know how much he'd have wanted it to be true - clear cut, and simple, loved and loved in return and secure in that knowledge. What a shortcut. What a lie. What a twisting of something good and right into a travesty of pain and a mockery of itself. It makes her want to cry just thinking about it.

But this isn't about her, it can't be, he's her friend and he's stumbling around, hurting in the dark.

She slowly reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder.]

Even if it was a lie that you wanted to be true, even if it made something seem perfect - don't you see, that's what makes it worse? Would you really want something like that if it took our choice away?

[She takes a breath and makes it as personal as she feels that it is:] If it took my choice away?

[She doesn't believe that he would. She doesn't think that low of him. A slight pause and she shakes her head to continue, with quiet conviction.]

What makes love great isn't that it's easy, isn't that it feels good - what makes love great is finding it even though it's hard. These experiments aren't short-cuts - they're robberies.

[And despite her best efforts, the corners of her eyes well up with tears.] They take something good and they twist it until it's all inside out.

[She withdraws, because she's starting to come apart at the ends, because looking at him while she says this is too much. She takes her hand off his shoulder and rests it back on her lap as she straightens and looks down.]

I don't blame you for wanting something like that to be real, not when it had seemed to give you what you want anyway. And it might take some time to work through that, and I understand that, just - [she swallows] - don't get so caught up in something false and twisted, even if it's sweet, that you lose out on what's true.

Edited 2012-02-28 18:17 (UTC)

[It's oddly surreal as he watches her break apart like this. About her? About him? About them? Maybe it's actually about Luffy or ... it's odd to think of it like this but maybe it's about Chouji. Or all of the above. His head tilts, and his expression, which was pained, is now oddly lacking. Because in truth, this moment seems less real than the lies.]

What's... true, is it? Ah, I'd given thought to that. [Lightly. She's under... no, maybe overestimating him. He's not really sure. What's true is painful. But a love story, huh? No, she hadn't actually said that. Maybe he should though. He purses his lips and then rocks back. He considers reaching out to touch her, maybe for a hug or just a show of support. but she might not want that]

Because, after all... even if there was a lie, I can barely remember the first one. I'll never forget this second one, I think. Even if I liked the lie, the fact is... it's a lie. [...] The fact is, love is... [he plans to say "a lie" he hums there, cutting off.]

[...And he smirks]

Have I stolen from you, Katara?

[She looks up at that, startled. What is he--

"Well, there is but one thing a man like me would "steal."

Oh.

And she blushes at that memory.

Fortunately, it's also enough to dry her eyes from tears which never quite spilled over. Katara gives a little pained exhale that under extremely generous circumstances could count as a laugh and shakes her head, her blush rapidly fading.]

No more than I stole from you.

[She doesn't hold him accountable for it.]

Putting it in that context, it makes the game seem pretty zero-sum.

[But it's not. Benefit for the Malnosso, somehow]

[Blink.]

Zero-sum? [...] Does that mean even?

[...is he really calling this a game?]

It means no one benefits. For each unit lost, one more is gained by the other part. We both lost "one," gained "one." Ergo, we both end at "zero."

[A beat]

But. If this were a "game" I have a handicap. I started at three.

[A blink. Although the first part made a certain amount of sense (...even if she doesn't really feel she gained anything from that fruit-induced scenario but pain), the second part loses her completely.]

What are you talking about?

[The smile on his lips become more pronounces. He leans his head back and Linda looks up at him, picking up some weird mood, or perhaps a shift in his electro-magnetic field. And when he's pulled back]

I mean that I'm sitting here across from the prettiest girl in this village.

[That just strikes her as hollow, and no explanation at all. She sighs and shakes her head.]

Oh, Masaomi...

Hold-! [And he wiggles his finger, in her face]

I can't objectively prove that. Subjectively... it's not a lie.

[Her only initial response is to look at his finger and then back to his face with a huff bordering on a pout. Subjectively, huh? Well, she can't tell him how to order his perceptions.

And she can't put much faith in them either. She doesn't quite think that he's lying, but her second response is something like: Until you tell that to the next girl who walks in the room. which is just ungenerous enough that Katara actually takes stock of the situation and doesn't say it out loud.

Which leads to the third response, after a second or two of prolonged not!pouting.]

Then thank you for the compliment.

[y u p.]

You don't thank a man for the truth. Particularly when you'd as gorgeous as you are. Even with your face like that, I can feel my heart pumping all sorts of places!

[He leans in, challenging her. Still smiling]

[Ugh.

You are making her so uncomfortable right now, Masaomi.]

[She plants one hand behind her to support her if she chooses to lean back, but as it is she just narrows her eyes at him.]

I'm pretty sure that the polite thing to do when you're complimented is to say 'thank you.' [Frown. Can we stop talking about this now? Ugh, after her conversation with Sanji earlier that day and everything...]

What else am I supposed to say?

[To get you to stop.]

Politely, I guess. Buuuut- [And he leans in further. If you were to happen to glance at Linda now, she's actually looking oddly starry-eyed at this moment] I'm not the most polite person ever, am I? Respect, care... ah, I've got a lot of virtues! But.

With you right in front of me like this? Maybe you just blush and nod. "Thank you," in fact, strikes me as dismissing it.

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